The survivors of Ithilien
by Curiosity159
Summary: Action. The story of four men in their struggle to survive after the invasion of Ithillien.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Alback woke with his head in a considerable amount of pain. Every thing looked fuzzy and after a while he managed to turn his head to find that he was in an orc camp. A _very_ nice surprise. Suddenly a creature that looked like an orc but was much too large to be one strode into the middle of the camp and all the talking stopped immediately. 'Must be one of those Uruk-hais' he thought. Ever since he heard stories of them Alback had always hoped he would be able to never even catch sight of an Uruk-hai. Suddenly Alback realised he had shackles on his wrists. Then, just as Alback found out he had shackles on the Uruk-hai spoke.

"Why are there _live___men 'ere?" The Uruk-hai asked in it's cold voice.

One of the smaller orc's piped up with it's terrified voice, " Thought they might be a bit of fun for you, sir."

After a moments hesitation, the Uruk-hai spoke again; "Cut the throats of all of them," it said nodding at Alback. Alback was now thinking about his pouch of lock picks. He felt around for it but it was gone, however, a single lock pick laid on the ground behind him so Alback picked it up slyly and placed it in the keyhole just as one of the larger and more menacing orc's pulled Barafen in front of Alback. Now with more haste, Alback was trying to pick the lock of the shackles. The orc pulled a jagged dagger from it's sheath and leered at Alback. Now Alback was twisting the lock around in desperation and… the lock pick snapped.

And the orc slit General Barafen's throat.

Alback looked at the corpse that was once his superior, horrified, a few orcs saw his face and laughed. When the other orcs saw what the others were laughing at they laughed too but stopped immediately when at least fifteen horses with riders galloped out of the shadows.

Two more men ran out of the darkness, yelling a battle cry. Alback recognised them as his companions; Whiteshade and Parengir. Whiteshade sprinted off into the battle while Parengir ran over to Alback, who was trying to crawl over to a key in the hand of a dead orc but when Parengir arrived he stooped, picked up the key and unlocked the shackles. Then Parengir handed Alback a sword with it's scabbard and belt and a sheathed dagger. Alback fastened the weapons around his waist and drew his sword.

The fight wasn't going well for the soldiers of Gondor- they were outnumbered three to one at least. Whiteshade and two riders were fighting the Uruk-hai and were on the back foot. There was now only seven riders and three horses left alive against twenty three orcs and the best Uruk-hai the shadow had been able to make. Alback ran over to the Uruk-hai to help the fight but before he could get close seven orcs encircled him like a pack of wolves. Alback gulped as the orcs waited for him to deal the first blow. This was a mistake by the orcs. Alback lunged at the them, sword flashing. Within five seconds three orcs lay dead. The remaining orcs looked genuinely worried by now. Two orcs plucked up the courage to attack back; Alback batted away the first orc's clumsy attack and stabbed it through the chest. Once Alback yanked his sword out of the orc, the orc fell to it's knees clutching the wound and whimpering. Alback didn't see this because he was too busy fighting the next orc, who was doing much better than the other idiot. However, the orc finally made a mistake; it swung it's sword at Alback's head way too hard but he ducked under the clumsy blow and plunged his blade into the orc's belly. Suddenly, Parengir jumped at the orcs and slashed at the there torsos and shouted "Get the Uruk-hai!" Alback didn't need to be asked twice. As he sprinted at the Uruk-hai he noticed that the two riders had been killed. As he neared the final enemy it elbowed Whiteshade in the face, hard. The Uruk-hai then raised it's sword and Alback leaped at it. Whiteshade cried out in pain and Alback wasn't sure where the Uruk-hai's sword went but he carried on and punched the Uruk-hai in the face with all his force but the monstrosity merely grunted and pushed Alback off it's chest then punched Alback in the cheek. Alback heard bones break and as he fell Alback tried to work out whether it was his cheek or the Uruk-hai's knuckles that had broken but judging by the pain in his face it was probably Alback's cheek. Alback raised his sword and attempted to deal a final blow but the Uruk-hai blocked it, however, the swing was so hard the sword went through the Uruk-hai's wrist. The Uruk-hai screamed in pain before Alback stabbed it in the heart.

The Victor dropped his sword and expected Whiteshade and Parengir to smile and congratulate him but instead Whiteshade lay on the ground with a sword sticking out of his chest looking up at the heavens with eyes clad with emptiness.

Whiteshade had been killed by the Uruk-hai.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**2 Days Before **

A tall man stepped out of the shadows and into the torchlight. He had slightly long greying hair that touched his broad shoulders and nearly passed his eyes. He wore heavy-looking, dirty armour and worn steel boots. The man had a long one-handed sword on his left side, a short ivory handled dagger on his right and a quiver of arrows, a long bow and a shield on his back. This man's name was Barafen, a General of Gondor. Barafen was a very well respected man throughout the kingdom of Gondor. There were many tales from when he was an adventurer, before an orcish arrow struck his knee. The people's favourite story was that he had defeated 50 orcs single-handedly while travelling the mountains. Barafen had told anyone that would listen (not many) that it was more like 30 and he had had a lot of help. However, the people that did listen (not many) dismissed it as Barafen being modest. Barafen was not a modest man, like the soldier that was approaching him- Parengir. When he was in stabbing distance, Parengir spoke.

"Captain Alback wishes to speak with you," he said solemnly. Barafen nodded and carried on walking. Parengir was scurrying behind him, trying to keep up with the long strides of the old General. Soon enough, they reached the tent where all the battle plans and hard decisions were made. A soldier named Whiteshade stood outside and nodded towards inside the tent. Barafen walked inside the large tent and saw Alback leaning over the table with a map of Ithilien on it, looking strained.

After a few moments Alback spoke in a hoarse voice "The scouts haven't returned. Which probably means they are dead,"

"Then perhaps we need to send some exceptional soldiers to scout out the area," he answered and looked at Whiteshade and Parengir. Whiteshade understood and went suddenly and alarmingly pale "Your not bloody serious,"

"I'm afraid I am,"

"But we'll get killed!"

"I'm sure you'll be fine,"

"This is the worst plan I've ever heard!"

"My plans are never bad,"

"Except this one!"

"There are no exceptions"

"I-" Parengir threw Whiteshade a horrible look, "sorry, _We_ hate you and we are not going,"

"Don't argue with the General,"

"Shut up Alback, your going as well,"

"What!"

"You leave at dawn,"

Barafen walked away and ignored the curses and horrible names thrown at him. He had never liked those three but they had become valuable assets for both him and the kingdom of Gondor so Barafen had to put up with them for long periods of time, often. He wasn't even sure why he didn't like them, to Barafen they were just the people he was always going to hate. The evil, twisted part of him hoped that they wouldn't return, but that part of Barafen's conscience also wanted to kill the steward and become king of Gondor so he never listened to that side of his mind.

He still despised those three though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Parengir was thinking. He was thinking about everything. Being part of a suicide mission was not new to him but he had a bad feeling about this one. He had never seen his reflection. Parengir was strange like that. From what he gathered his looks were unexceptional in every way. Short fair hair and perhaps even a puny torso. A lot of the time looks are deceiving and this was just such the case with Parengir. Even the people around him didn't know how he could carry sword, shield and such heavy armour. He was very strong for such a small size and his kind face hid all the grief of such losses that laid within. Parengir caught sight of Whiteshade, who was cleaning his sword. A man with such power in battle shouldn't be trusted, but Whiteshade was different. He was the most trustworthy man Parengir had ever met.

Whiteshade was born and raised in Rohan but after an orc raid left his parents dead he went after revenge. After being told Rohan didn't hunt down the last remnants of the orcish army Whiteshade travelled to Gondor and joined the army. Whiteshade was a nickname. He received it because of his unusually white hair and the way he stuck to the shadows before attacking ferociously. He was little under two meters tall and very strong for a man of his size. Whiteshade's hair didn't seem to grow so while all the other men had hair waving around everywhere his hair just stayed short. It was unusual. Parengir then looked at Alback, who was drinking, his greasy black was untamed because all equipment brought was to be taken only if essential.

Parengir was bored so he crawled into his bed roll and closed his eyes. After a few moments sleep took him.

Parengir was awoken by Whiteshade. It was nearly dawn. "Get ready," was all he said. Whiteshade was a man of few words and only spoke if what he said was useful. Everyone respected that. Parengir was still tired but climbed out of his bed roll anyway.

After getting all his equipment ready, Parengir put a saddle on his horse as Barafen approached, a saddle in hand. He simply fastened it around his horse without saying a word. Parengir was curious but said nothing. Just as Barafen was leaving Alback and Whiteshade appeared side by side on horseback.

"What are you doing, Barafen?" asked Alback. "Joining you," was all Barafen said. Whiteshade looked at Parengir but Parengir just shrugged. He knew as little as everybody else.

Alback and Barafen were having a quiet argument away from Whiteshade and Parengir. Alback looked severely irritated but Barafen looked calm as always. After a few moments Barafen strode back towards Parengir and Whiteshade, who were both now on horseback. "I will be joining you on your expedition,"

"Why?"

"Because I would like to see the enemy for myself rather than hear a report that could be exaggerated an-,"

"Hello Alback,"

Alback was walking towards them and if he trying not to look thoroughly annoyed he was failing remarkably. Barafen looked annoyed too but that was because he was interrupted.

The four men set off moments later and nothing remarkable happened until at least an hour after leaving. The men swore they could hear orc drums but dismissed it as cruel imaginations until another half an hour into the expedition. The drums became unmistakable even if they were quiet. Another quarter of an hour into the mission and they could hear voices. The four men dismounted and silently ordered their horses to halt and curiosity drew then closer and closer to the voices. They used the cover of the foliage to advance. Suddenly they heard the cries of pain from the horses and turned just in time to see orcs and Easterlings leaping at them from out of the bushes. Parengir tried to draw his sword but only got half way before he was forced to the ground by an attacking orc. Parengir abandoned drawing his sword and instead used his left hand to try to keep the orc away from him and took out his dagger with his right hand. When the dagger was out he plunged it into the orc's throat. Parengir then shoved the orc off of him, put the dagger away and took out his sword and shield.

The four soldiers were outnumbered but not hopelessly so. The orcs and Easterlings were now sneering at them, waiting for the fight to be started again by the men. The for men moved as one, covering each others backs if need be and killing orcs one at a time. They were unstoppable until, that is, the enemy started attacking again. The amount of orcs and Easterlings were going to overwhelm the four men. The first to go was Barafen, who was thrown headfirst into a tree, and after the same thing happened to Alback the two remaining soldiers realised that the orcs were going for live capture. Parengir and Whiteshade stood back to back, exhausted. After ten minutes or so of constant blocking Parengir was simply too exhausted to do anything and his guard dropped. A large orc threw him on the ground and stamped on his head.

Darkness swarmed Parengir.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Whiteshade awoke. Or at least he thought he did, he couldn't see either way. He breathed in and gagged. The place smelled like orcs. It took Whiteshade a while to work out that he was blindfolded and shackled. Suddenly he could hear a familiar voice. "Whiteshade, Parengir, Alback?" It was Barafen. "Yeah," Whiteshade replied but all he got in return was a kick in the head by an orc.

"Shut up!" The orc was obviously very angry. But then again, orcs are always angry. Whiteshade scraped his head along the ground and managed to get his blindfold off. It was painful and humiliating but almost worth it. Almost. An orc appeared from the other clearing and nodded. The largest orc of the three walked up to Barafen and attempted to drag him away to the other clearing but Barafen wasn't going to give up easily. He head butted wildly and somehow it connected. Both Barafen and the orc staggered away in pain as the smallest orc ran at Barafen. Parengir ,who Whiteshade hadn't noticed until then, stuck out his leg and the oncoming orc fell face first onto the ground. Barafen, who was still blindfolded, trampled on the fallen orc's head and didn't stop until he heard a crack of broken skull.

The large orc returned and punched Barafen in the face, hard. Barafen fell then allowed himself to be dragged away without another fight. The entire ordeal (somehow) had been done in near silence. When the orc left with Barafen an arrow struck the remaining orc in the throat. Whiteshade was surprised that he wasn't surprised by the surprising event. Whiteshade ,who isn't particularly clever, tried to work out what that had meant but stopped after a while. His thoughts were a bad influence on him.

Nearly twenty men on horses came out of the shadows. They were clearly soldiers of Gondor because of the colour of their armour. A couple of them climbed off of their horses and un-shackled Whiteshade and Parengir and gestured towards a chest. Neither men asked how their saviours knew so much. They simply walked quietly towards the chest. They could hear the orcs laughing. The chest held all of the men's weapons and Alback's lock picks. They took all the weapons and returned.

The soldiers were gone and the orcish laughter was replaced by cries of fear and pain. Whiteshade looked at a smiling Parengir and they both sprinted out of the darkness clutching swords and yelling a battle cry. Parengir ran towards Alback while Whiteshade went to kill some orcs, something he had been eagerly anticipating since being captured. The first few orcs that attacked Whiteshade had been dispatched easily due to the skill of Whiteshade, but when he started attacking the only Uruk-hai, alongside two others, he found a challenger worthy of him. More than worthy as it turned out. The Uruk-hai seemed to only be blocking until when you would least expect it. It ducked under a slash from one of the other soldiers with surprising speed and agility from such a large foe and as it came up it held it's sword out towards the other soldier. The man tried to dodge it but too late- momentum brought the sword deep into the Gondorian's gut.

The Uruk-hai pulled out it's sword and in the same motion slashed the other soldier's throat. The soldier fell clutching his throat with a look of surprise written on his face. Now the fight was on.

The fight ended quickly. The Uruk-hai elbowed Whiteshade in the face very, very hard. Whiteshade fell to the floor with a broken jaw. The Uruk-hai stood over Whiteshade with a horrible smile on it's face. It raised it's sword above it's head and the Uruk-hai plunged the long, bloody sword into Whiteshade's chest. Whiteshade cried out because of the sudden pain that had inflicted him just as Alback jumped at the Uruk-hai and knocked the foe of it's feet.

Whiteshade could see Alback and the Uruk-hai fighting. He turned his head to see Parengir and a rider finishing off the last orc before darkness took him.

**Message from the author:**

**Hello I just want to ask whether or not you are actually enjoy the chapters because right now I haven't a clue. If you could review this and tell me whether you do like it or not I would be grateful. Also, if you are not enjoying the chapters tell me why and I may be able to improve. Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Alback and Whiteshade had been friends since Whiteshade arrived in Minas Tirith at the age of 16. Whiteshade had saved Alback and Parengir's life so many times they had forgotten the number they were currently on. Sauron's spies had tried to recruit Whiteshade quite a lot as well. The spies never managed to tell their master what he had said. These reasons, amongst others, were why Parengir trusted him so much. Any one that wasn't on the side of Sauron trusted Whiteshade immediately. Whiteshade was on the side of anyone that was killing orcs.

Alback was one of the older captains. He had fought by Boromir's side during the retaking of Osgiliath. He had been soldier since being old enough to join. Before that he worked at his family's bakery. Once in the army of Gondor he had progressed quickly through the ranks. He was the youngest in his family and two of his older brothers had also joined the army, one had been killed in the defence of Osgiliath while the other had been heavily wounded in the retaking of the same city. His sister and one of his brothers worked at the bakery and will inherit it once their father dies. Alback's mother died at child birth. All in all, Alback's family wasn't the happiest in Gondor.

Parengir's life was a mystery to many. Such secrecy lead to soldiers believing that he was a spy. Once those soldiers found that wasn't true they then wondered whether Parengir was his real name. Parengir is in fact his real name. Before becoming famous in both the Gondorian and Orcish army for his battle skills and strength despite looking exceptionally weak, orcs were extremely surprised when he almost lazily plunged his sword into the many orcs heart or perhaps their throat if he felt like it. He himself admitted that he is a violent person.

Barafen's childhood was unknown because he spent all of it in the wilds. Many people believed that Barafen was a Ranger. This was, in fact, true. Barafen was one of the only Rangers that swapped a life of exile for one in a city or other large amounts of civilisation successfully. Barafen left for Minas Tirith after taking an arrow in the knee in the mountains. Once recovered from the poisoned wound he didn't return to the wild like many expected. Barafen instead joined the army of Gondor and had been there ever since. He was known in the army of Gondor for a lot of things, most notably helping Boromir with the planning of the offensive on Oscillate a few years before being sent to Ithilien.

Alback stood next to Parengir and the only other survivor, a man named Rovam. It turned out that the men on horses were the scouts that they had sent out and presumed dead. They had been tracking the orcs ever since leaving the camps in Ithilien. Despite the orders to return as soon as they found the army (which they had) they wanted to destroy that camp ever since finding it. They had thought of a plan to destroy the orc camp before the four men had arrived. However, them scouting had ruined the plan slightly. Which was why so many riders were killed. After the plan setback they decided the best thing to do was to approach stealthily then take the orcs by surprise.

Two horses had survived. The three men had also taken all the food and water from the dead. The three survivors decided that one horse would carry Rovam and the supplies and Alback and Whiteshade would ride the other. They burned the orcs and Uruk-hai and wanted to bury the rest but there was not enough time so they burned the men and horses in a separate pile. Alback didn't move a muscle in his face because he not only had a broken cheekbone but his jaw had been broken by the Uruk-hai as well. If he did even attempt a slight smile he nearly cried with the pain. After a quarter of an hour resting time they set off to warn Ithilien of the oncoming army that Rovam and his men had spied.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

All three men were still in mourning. Alback knew some of the dead scouts personally, while Parengir was friends with nearly all of them and with the death of Whiteshade and Barafen as well it was all he could do to not break down into tears. Rovam was almost the same. He had become firm friends with all of the scouts. There very little talk and if there was, the topic was of the job in hand. Rovam was interested with Alback's background but since he was in no fit state for speech Rovam kept the sorrowful silence.

The men took breaks often. Not because they grew physically tired but because the mental burden was too heavy. They managed to reach the Ithilien camps after one night. They could have arrived at the camps before nightfall without all the breaks but they wouldn't have seen any thing different. A few dead bodies littered the ground. There weren't many which meant- "They retreated," Rovam said. Alback was surprised that he broke the silence. Alback raised an eyebrow, just about the only facial expression he could pull off.

"But where to?" Rovam continued "Minas Tirith?" Parengir looked like he agreed with Rovam so Alback had to correct them despite the huge amount of pain. "Osgiliath,"

Alback was, of course, correct. The Ithilien rangers had retreated to Osgiliath.

"So what exactly do we do?" Rovam asked

"Wait for the outcome of the battle," Alback's eyes stated watering with the savage pain.

"We can't do nothing!"

"What else can we do, hmmm Rovam?" Parengir asked "Sneak past the only army that can smell you before seeing or hearing you? The latter is certain death,"

Rovam looked taken aback. This is the way Parengir puts his point across. Some would call it cold delivery but Parengir said it was the only way to persuade certain people while others would not argue with him for a while. Parengir says the lines with pure venom. Many people don't like him for it but Parengir couldn't care less about how people think of.

Anyway, Rovam said nothing more on the subject and they set up camp with a good view of the city Osgiliath. The worst bit of it was watching the city burn and rapidly fill with murderous orcs without being of any help at all. Alback's facial expression remained impassive but only because facial expressions were still as painful as ever. Even more so now he had spoken earlier. Inside, however, his face was as sorrowful as it could be.

Parengir and Rovam couldn't watch for long and fled to their bed rolls and pretended to sleep. The truth was, however, that nobody slept that night. With nothing else to think about Alback focused his thoughts on Barafen. He wondered why they had despised each other so much. There was no reasonable reason for it. After thinking about that topic for a while, Alback became slightly depressed and he too retreated to his bed roll.


End file.
